Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Wednesday PM Edition -- Visit Convention 2000 Media Bias ( More ) -- 1) Kennedy Night Coverage, the Morning After: "Liberal Night" Issues Downplayed in Favor of Nostalgia 2) Jackson's Rousing "Rhetorical Flourish": Dick Cheney Threw "Anti-Democratic...Red Meat" 3) Joe's "Been Down the Line With Liberals": ABC's Stephanopoulos Reassures Democrats About Lieberman 4) Republican Warriors, Democratic Victims: Mrs. Cheney Pushed Politically, Mrs. Lieberman Emotionally. Bryant Gumbel claimed "family values" are "a code word for intolerance" and worried: "Need people be concerned about a hard turn to the social right in the Democratic Party?" 5) Sidebar... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Wednesday AM Edition -- Visit Convention 2000 Media Bias ( More ) -- 1) Lieberman "Too Conservative"? Tom Brokaw: "There's Not Very Much Talk About Poverty in America." Reporters portrayed the party as being led by a "centrist" ticket and asked liberals if they are distressed by Lieberman's "socially conservative" positions. 2) Only FNC Noticed Extreme Position: Democrats' Hardline Pro-Abortion Plank Ignored 3) Rather Swooned Over Kennedys, Tied to Gore: "Al Gore...Will Lead the Country in the Tradition" of JFK 4) Mislabeled as "Moderate" & "Conservative"; Joe Lieberman Really "A Conventional Liberal" 5) Sidebar stories... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Tuesday PM Edition -- Visit Convention 2000 Media Bias ( More ) -- 1) Journalists Applaud "Rock Star" President; No Questioning of Clinton's View of Self, History, and GOP 2) CBS Star Gumbel Chooses Porn Over Gore; Flap Over Playboy Mansion Fundraiser "A Lot About Nothing." Gumbel claimed "family values...frightens a lot of people because those are code words." 3) Can Hollywood Accept Lieberman's Barbs? ABC's Charles Gibson Remembers How Hollywood Dumped on Dan Quayle 4) Sidebars: Genius Day at NBC; Ted's Lewinsky Logic; Clinton Haters? 5) Quote of the Morning: Bryant Gumbel wondered if... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Tuesday AM Edition -- Visit Convention 2000 Media Bias ( More ) -- 1) Both Parties Too Conservative for MSNBC: Liberals Probed About Concerns the Ticket Not Liberal Enough 2) Bill Clinton's Speech Hailed: "Masterfully Delivered," But on "Downside" Late Hour Reduced Audience 3) Sam on Clinton: "As Good a Political Speech as I've Ever Seen"...But in 1988 He Took on Reagan, applying liberal argument that tax cuts caused the deficit. 4) A Unique Perspective from Fox News: FNC Explored Delegate Quotas & Definition of "Working" 5) Celebrities: "Best Eight Years of Our Lives"; Stars... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Monday PM Edition -- Visit Convention 2000 Media Bias ( More ) -- 1) Invisible Donna Brazile Reappears on Morning Shows; CBS Host Praises Political Ascent of "Unapologetic Liberal" 2) Gumbel Deplores Democratic "Centrism;" Early Show Anchor Pleads for Return to Kennedy Era 3) Democrats Embrace "Centrist Policies;" Morning Shows Have Little to Say About Democratic Platform 4) Clinton Gains From Time's Distorted History; Who Deserves Credit for Longest Economic Boom Ever in U.S.? Time's Eric Pooley claimed the boom did not begin before Clinton took office. 5) CNN: Business-Bashing Delegates "Principled"; Democrats "Have the... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Monday AM Edition -- Visit Convention 2000 Media Bias ( More ) -- 1) Lieberman Let Off Easy Sunday Morning: Cheney Grilled on Votes, Lieberman by CBS About Cheney's Pay. Gloria Borger grilled Dick Cheney about his abortion view but though a poll found most disagree with Lieberman on partial-birth she avoided the subject. 2) Case Studies in Dan Rather's Bias: Introduced Republicans With Attacks; Democrats With Own Spin. Dan Rather led by stressing Al Gore's plan to help "mainstream" Americans, but on the night before the GOP convention he emphasized how Dick Cheney "was... continue reading
Did Clinton "Bare His Soul"?; Cheney vs. Lieberman Contrast in AM; Anti-Semitic Bush Voters; "Snipers Wanted" 1) The networks bought Bill Clinton's supposed, in the words of Katie Couric, "candid confessional." "It's not often that you get to hear a President bare his soul," ABC's Charles Gibson heralded. 2) CBS's Bill Whitaker refused to label Ralph Nader a liberal as he tagged Lieberman a "moderate." CNN's Bill Schneider insisted Gore and Lieberman "represent the most conservative Democratic ticket in fifty years." Meanwhile, Americans for Democratic Action described Lieberman's 77 percent rating as "pretty liberal." 3) Joe Lieberman has already abandoned... continue reading
Lieberman's Praise of God Minimized; Gumbel Raised GOP Anti-Jewish Plot 1) Dan Rather Bias 101: The night of the official Dick Cheney VP announcement Rather relayed the negative Democratic spin against the GOP ticket. Tuesday night Rather highlighted the Democratic ticket's boasts about themselves with a sly dig at Bush-Cheney. 2) "Sing to God and make music to God and...give glory and gratitude to God from whom all blessings truly do flow," declared Joseph Lieberman, but CBS gave his religious comments just two seconds and NBC only referenced it in a clause. 3) FNC's Brit Hume wondered about the reaction... continue reading
Lieberman Dubbed "Centrist"; Unlike GOP Show, Lieberman Pick Demonstrated True Inclusiveness 1) Joe Lieberman may not be a left-wing liberal, but with a 1999 ADA rating of 95 and a zero from the ACU, he's certainly no "centrist," yet Monday night all the networks tagged him either as "centrist" or a "moderate." 2) CNN's Bill Schneider: "Republicans in Philadelphia kept calling attention to their party's inclusiveness. Well the first Jewish candidate on a national ticket trumps anything they had to say." 3) Lieberman "is a conservative Democrat," NBC's Claire Shipman insisted Monday morning as she transferred that view to Gore,... continue reading
Confounded by Gore's Troubles; Bay State Not Liberal; Kerry Not Labeled; Gumbel Not Impressed by Bush 1) Time's Margaret Carlson confounded by "how Monica could attach to Al Gore and not prosperity." 2) Talking about Sen. John Kerry, Newsweek's Evan Thomas scoffed at how the public "still thinks" of Massachusetts "as being Northeastern liberal." He insisted it's "moved to the middle." 3) The Washington Post described Dick Cheney's "bedrock conservatism...in step with militants" and referred to his "hard-right votes," but applied no ideological tag to the left-wing John Kerry, calling him only "a handsome, decorated war hero." 4) George W... continue reading